Lead From the Heart

Esther Wojcicki knows what it takes to raise successful children. Her daughter, Susan, is the CEO of YouTube. Janet is professor of Pediatrics at the UC San Francisco Medical School (and A Fulbright scholar). And Anne is co-founder & CEO of DNA testing company 23andMe. If any of us were to guess how Esther influenced all three of her daughters to become so high-achieving, the logical leap would be to assume she had to have been the ultimate “tiger mom:” perfectionistic, unrelenting and intensely focused on having her kids win at all costs. But, of course, Esther wouldn’t be a guest on this podcast were any of those assumptions to be true. What is true is that Esther trusted her own uncommon instincts on what lessons would produce successful adults; and she intentionally imbued her children with a deep appreciation for five key values: Trust,” “Respect,” “Independence,” “Collaboration” and “Kindness.” Based upon “soft” values like these, Esther might rightfully be regarded as more of a “panda mom” in her approach to child-rearing. Virtues like aren’t widely believed to be the ones that lead to success moreover super-stardom. But it wasn’t just her three daughters who soared under Esther’s curriculum. For 36 years, she influenced countless students to excel in their lives as a journalism teacher at Palo Alto high school – where she recently was named California’s “Teacher of the Year.” The big question we have for Esther on this podcast is “Could these very same values have a similar impact when it comes to managing people in the workplace?” “Is it possible that these same five values hold their charge into adult-life too – and that leaders who adopt them will experience great performance from their employees in return?” Tapping into everything she wrote in her new best-selling book,“How To Raise Successful People: Simple Lessons For Radical Results,” Esther brilliantly shares a philosophy that transcends teaching. It’s a mindset that has profound implications for management, and one that intentionally emphasizes heart. The post Esther Wojcicki: How To Raise Successful People appeared first on Mark C. Crowley.

When researchers tell us employee engagement is especially low, they’re almost always referring to American businesses. But as distressing as engagement is in the United States, the truth is it’s far worse in Europe and the UK – a fact this podcast is dedicated to exploring. Just a few days before this interview with Dan Cable, professor of Organizational Behavior at the London Business School, the London Times reported statistics that might be laughable were they not true: Research shows 1-in-2 Britains dread getting out of bed on work-day mornings, and 1-in-4 say they never have a single happy moment while on the job. Making matters worse, the study asserts that workers are starving for appreciation and recognition – an indication that workplace managers aren’t even getting the basics right. A consistent theme of the Lead From The Heart podcast is that findings like these shouldn’t come as a surprise. We continue to manage human beings in ways that effectively undermine their optimal performance – and it’s because we’re still employing outdated leadership practices passed on to us from generations long-ago. A while back, I asked Wharton Professor and best-selling author Adam Grant to recommend people he believed would be great guests on this podcast; and Dan Cable was first on his list. Dan (as the author of the new book, “Alive At Work”) very much believes there’s a biological reason so many of us are discontented at work. And much of this podcast is devoted to exploring the many ways managers can re-activate their employee’s “seeking system,” the part of the mind that holds such great sway over human behavior. Dan holds an undergraduate degree from Penn State University along with a masters and Ph.D from Cornell University. With optics into the US and the UK – not to mention having done considerable work with many global companies, he’s in a great position to help us understand why so many people everywhere are miserable in their jobs – and how managers must help them return to being “alive at work.” This is one of the most dynamic and informative podcast conversations yet! The post Daniel Cable: How To Ensure Your Employees Come “Alive At Work” appeared first on Mark C. Crowley.

Pick up any business magazine today, and it won’t take you long to find an article that features the phrase, “according to Gallup research.” And whether that article is about workplace management, the future of work or how to most effectively lead a team of millennials, the studies to which the author will be referring are almost always the work Dr. Jim Harter. For over 30 years, he’s led Gallup’s management research which includes over 1,000 workplace effectiveness studies – not to mention their world famous and ongoing global Well Being and Employee Engagement studies. Gallup research, of course, represents the gold-standard of business insight – and so it’s perhaps no surprise that Jim Harter is the first person we’ve ever invited back on the podcast for a second time. And we’ve timed his encore appearance to coincide with the launch of his new book, “It’s The Manager,” co-written with Gallup CEO, Jim Clifton – which became an immediate Amazon #1 bestseller when it was released last week. “It’s The Manager” is packed with 52 discoveries from Gallup’s largest study ever on the future of work – the most important of which is that a whopping “70% of the variance in team engagement is determined solely by the manager.” And because we already know that employee engagement is absurdly low across the world, the idea that managers have the greatest impact on it inherently tells us we’re either choosing the wrong people for leadership roles – or that most managers don’t consistently employ the practices now known to drive great performance. As you might have guessed, in “It’s The Manager,” Harter tells us that both are actually true. Harter does few interviews, and in our discussion he energetically explains the key findings from his compelling new research – knowledge that will surely propel you and your organization to great new heights. The post Jim Harter: Gallup’s Chief Scientist Discusses His #1 Bestseller, “It’s The Manager” appeared first on Mark C. Crowley.

Over a span of only a couple of decades, we’ve witnessed entire industries get wiped out by digital disruption – advances in technology that have decimated traditional business models while ushering in new & previously unimaginable ways of delivering the same service. Very often, the innovators had never been previously seen as being either a threat or a competitor – until it was far too late. Harmed in the process have been book stores, music stores, video rental businesses, taxi cab owners – even hotels. Gone are companies like Kodak, Borders, Blockbuster – & major newspapers across the world. In light of this, is it likely that digital disruption will affect your industry and career? Research shows that nearly 9-in-10 of us believe it’s a certainty. But the same detailed study made a truly staggering discovery: only 4-in-10 of us believe our companies are doing enough to prepare. That leads us to asking: “How do we prepare?” and, “What must our leadership mindset be in this era of rapid change to not just endure, but also thrive?” Working with colleagues from Deloitte & MIT’s Sloan Management Review, Boston College technology professor Gerald Kane spent the past four years surveying 16,000 people about their experience with digital disruption & how well they believe their organizations are responding. And to learn how cutting-edge firms like Google, SalesForce, WalMart and Facebook are working to disrupt themselves, he interviewed many of their top though leaders and innovators. What he and his team learned through this research is the focus of this podcast – insight every one of us will need in order to successfully maneuver in our careers and in leading our organizations. One huge take-away from Jerry’s deep-dive is that leaders don’t need to understand the inner workings of artificial intelligence, blockchain & virtual reality to succeed in this new business environment. Instead, what they need to adopt are the qualities of being change oriented, adaptable, open-minded, & willing to experiment & continually learn. As Jerry writes in his new book, The Technology Fallacy, the response to digital disruption doesn’t call for leaders to focus exclusively on technology. Instead, it requires us to devote ourselves to preparing our people, our cultures & even our organizational structures to respond to the exciting and challenging future ahead. The good news is Jerry has the roadmap, & brilliantly shares it with you here! The post Gerald Kane: How To Prepare For The Digital Disruption Headed Your Way appeared first on Mark C. Crowley.

In their new best-selling book, “Nine Lies About Work,” co-authors Marcus Buckingham (“First Break All The Rules”) & Cisco’s Director of Leadership, Ashley Goodall prove that many of the basic truths we’ve long believed about work are actually lies. As examples of our faulty assumptions, we believe the best people are well-rounded & that employees crave feedback. We think strategic planning is essential & that an organization’s culture is key to its success. But as we discuss in this enlightening podcast, Goodall says the strength of individual teams actually matters far more to employees than their organization’s culture. He believes managers must lessen their focus on top down planning & give people more real time intelligence with which to take action instead. And despite the very human inclination to call out people’s weaknesses, workers don’t want or even need constant feedback – what they really need in order to thrive is their manager’s “attention.” In a widely read Harvard Business Review article, “The Feedback Fallacy,” Buckingham & Goodall recently revealed another of their nine lies of work: the belief that managers can reliably rate the performance & potential of other people. We dig into all of this & more – & I hope you’ll listen in. Goodall proves to be a true sage when it comes to the future of managing people in the workplace. The post Ashley Goodall: Nine Lies About Work appeared first on Mark C. Crowley.

Gallup research shows 75% of people quit their jobs in response to a bad manager. 65% of Americans say they’d rather change their boss than get a pay raise. Global surveys report a staggering 70% of employees aren’t engaged at work – and only 4% of these employees had anything nice to say about their bosses. The obvious conclusion from these facts is that most people across the world experience incompetent leadership – and suffer from it – every single day. And while we presume there’s been an intense focus on leadership success recently, all the relevant scorecards prove most leaders today remain ineffective. According to Tomas Chamorrow-Premusik, what explains this mess is that we have an inaccurate understanding of what qualities & skills truly drive high engagement and performance – and consequently, keep on hiring people with the very same ineffective traits. We think confident people are inherently meant to become managers when science proves confidence is actually a weak indicator of leadership potential. We’re also very impressed with charisma despite the fact that highly charismatic managers tend to be highly self-focused, not to mention poor at developing other people & fostering the collaboration needed to make teams excel. In his new best-selling book, “Why Do So Many Incompetent Men Become Leaders (and how to fix it), Chamorrow taps a motherlode of research data which proves many male leaders are ill-suited to management roles because they lack emotional intelligence, and think they are far more effective than they actually are. In the worst cases, they have a significant deficit in empathy and don’t really care about other people – they’re lacking a heart. Based on studies which proves the best leaders have strong intellectual intelligence and strong emotional intelligence, Chamorrow asserts that women actually tend to be better leaders than men. One impressive study found that women outshine men in virtually all leadership competencies. In this riveting podcast, we dig into the science that reveals a new kind of leader not only must emerge, but that we must begin hiring managers according to the new model now. And whether you’re looking to learn how you can be an even more effective leader – or want to know what traits to look for when you’re hiring new managers – both new answers emerge. Tomas Chamorrow-Premusic is the Chief Talent Scientist at Fortune-500 staffing firm, the Manpower Group. He’s also a professor of business psychology at Columbia University & The University College London. The post Tomas Chamorrow-Premuzik: Why Do So Many Incompetent Men Become Leaders? appeared first on Mark C. Crowley.

When we consider the future of our careers, most of us fully realize that the only way we can ensure our continued relevance & viability is by learning & growing. We know we have a need to get increasingly better at our existing jobs while, at the same time, preparing ourselves to do entirely new things. And given the many challenges we already have on our plates, most of us feel oppressed & overwhelmed by these demands. It would therefore be especially helpful if we had informed guidance on how to acquire new knowledge & skills during our normal work days – & that’s the theme of this podcast. After 15 years of research – including as an MBA & Ph.D student at the Harvard Business School – University of North Carolina professor, Brad Staats, became an expert on learning. And what he discovered is that most of us aren’t good learners in any environment. In his words, we’re actually “supremely” bad at learning – news that would be rather discouraging were there no remedies. It turns out we routinely get in the way of our own growth. For starters, we hate to experience failure, & therefore intentionally avoid taking on challenges that often deliver profound new wisdom. We also have a strong inclination for answering questions rather than asking them (another blow to learning) – and our need to feel busy in every given moment takes us away from the reflection & relaxation known to cement new knowledge into our brains. In his new book, “Never Stop Learning: Stay Relevant, Reinvent Yourself & Thrive,” Staats shows us that there are several ways we limit our own growth & development – and understanding how to correct all of these blind spots is the key to becoming a dynamic learner. In this podcast, Staats shares some powerful research – not to mention many wonderfully illustrative anecdotes – that will bring your understanding of learning to an entirely new level. Stanford Business School business school professor, Bob Sutton calls “Never Stop Learning,” “the best book ever written on learning,” and you’ll understand why after you hear the rapid-fire insights Brad Staats shares. Get ready to be a dynamic learner – you’re going to need it! The post Brad Staats: A Framework For Staying Relevant In A Rapidly Changing World appeared first on Mark C. Crowley.

Harvard Business School professor, Amy Edmondson, is one of the world’s top experts on building highly cohesive, cooperative and productive teams. And much of her expertise comes from her decades of research into “Psychological Safety,” recently confirmed by Google to be the single most important quality found in all super-achieving groups. Simply put, psychological safety means that people work in environments where they feel comfortable expressing & being themselves. They know they can speak up without fear of being humiliated, ignored or blamed – & it’s because their leaders fully accept that fostering this kind of workplace promotes exceptional performance. Today’s Harvard MBA students are not only learning the profound importance of psychological safety in leadership, but also the most effective ways of building it into their overall management philosophy. The good news for those of us who don’t attend Harvard is that Dr. Edmondson shares many of her same remarkable insights on this podcast – a discussion that’s focused on her best-selling new book, “The Fearless Organization – Creating Psychological Safety In The Workplace For Learning, Innovation & Growth.” If your goal is to manage teams that routinely & repeatedly excel, Amy Edmondson has the formula you’ll want to follow. As of February 2023, this is the #1 most downloaded episode of the podcast series. The post Amy Edmondson: Why Psychological Safety Breeds Exceptionally High Performing Teams appeared first on Mark C. Crowley.

We all know the primary reason companies go into business is to make money. But is it possible for organizations to thrive financially while also doing good in the world? USC Marshall School of Business Professor Emeritus, Jim O’Toole spent ten years researching companies that were founded with the uncommon ambition of driving profits – while also caring about the well-being of employees, customers & communities. This podcast is devoted to exploring all of the leadership lessons O’Toole acquired from his research. In his new book, “The Enlightened Capitalists: Cautionary Tales of Business Pioneers Who Tried To Do Well By Being Good,” O’Toole tells the remarkable stories of well-known companies like Hersheys, Lever Brothers, Johnson & Johnson, Levi Strauss, Herman Miller, & Southwest Airlines. All had founders who took the road less traveled by seeking to enrich not just shareholders – but also their workers (& society overall) – tied to the belief that their businesses would perform better by doing so. What O’Toole discovered is that all of these company’s founders had the “moral courage” to operate a business by an entirely different set of rules. And almost from the beginning, virtually all of them were met with intense criticism and resistance from shareholders, competitors – even from some of their very own managers. That all these organizations survive decades or even a century later is testimony to the profound visions of their original leaders. But as O’Toole found, after each founder passed away, the successor CEO almost always gutted the original culture, and dismissed the very values that had helped make their companies so successful. In this podcast, we discuss the reasons why so many leaders – then and to this day – so willingly dismiss the example of leaders like Milton Hershey, James Cash Penney and Herb Kelleher who irrefutably proved that leaders can create organizations that are good for both people and profits. At the end of the podcast, I asked Professor O’Toole if, tied to everything he’d learned from researching the Enlightened Capitalists, whether putting people first is the leadership model of the future. His answer provides invaluable insight for any entrepreneur, manager or leader who seeks to excel in the 21stCentury. The post James O’Toole: Leadership Lessons From The Enlightened Capitalists appeared first on Mark C. Crowley.

There’s a longstanding taboo against displaying emotions in the workplace – and it’s based on the idea that we make our best business decisions when we keep feelings and intuition out of the mix. But the time has come for us to directly question these longstanding beliefs about human effectiveness – and challenge the notion that any of us has ever really possessed the ability to shut down our emotions at the turn of a switch – and operate our lives with pure rationality. The truth of the matter is that feelings hold sway over us all the time, and that emotional dynamics directly affect our behavior, communication and decisions whether we’re aware of them or not. Research now proves we’re far more effective in our lives and careers when we leverage them to our advantage. This podcast episode is dedicated to introducing you to some of the emerging research which proves human beings were designed to rely on both their minds and their hearts – and to explain ways you can apply this knowledge in our own life, and to your leadership of others. Along with, Mollie West Duffy, podcast guest Liz Fosslien is the co-author of the new book, “No Hard Feelings,” a treatise on how to tap into one’s emotions to build a far more successful life and career. And as an indication that there’s suddenly a lot of interest in bringing emotions into the spotlight, their book has received effusive praise from bestselling authors, Susan Cain, Adam Grant, Laszlo Bock and recent podcast guest, Chip Conley. Fortune Magazine named it one of the “10 Best Business Books Of 2019. Harvard Business School professor, Bill George has said that what gets taught in the world’s top MBA programs today is 95% intellectual and just 5% emotional – a profound mistake he believes in how we prepare the workplace’s future senior leaders. To his point, Liz and Mollie assert that “The Future Is Emotional,” and this podcast will surely help you successfully pivot into that new brave world. The post Liz Fosslien: The Future Is Emotional appeared first on Mark C. Crowley.

If you’d invested $1,000 in Netflix stock just a dozen years ago, you’d have $90,000 today – quite an extraordinary return from a company that fearlessly took on the Goliath, Blockbuster Video, and won – and today has 137 million customers worldwide. It wasn’t all that long ago that Netflix was shipping out a million DVD envelopes per day to its customers. But in a deft display of risk-taking and innovation, they pivoted away from DVDs and into on-line streaming. On top of that, they launched a production unit that developed the film, “Roma” nominated this year for the Academy Awards’ “Best Picture.” So how is it that any one company string together so many consistent wins in a row? What kind of organizational culture could repeatedly evolve to seize every key opportunity they faced? As you’re about to hear from Netflix’s long-time Chief Talent Officer, Patty McCord, all of these achievements flowed from her company’s decision to implement a set of leadership practices that intentionally defied convention. In Patty’s new book, “Powerful: Building A Culture Of Freedom & Responsibility” (one of the Business Insider’s best business books of 2018), she describes the key elements of Netflix’s high performance culture. While admitting that some of her company’s practices might not be a fit for every company, the key take-away from this interview is there are more things you’ll want to adopt than not. A truly electric and inspiring conversation that will challenge many of your assumptions about effective workplace management. The post Patty McCord: Parting Ways With Traditional Leadership Rules Is How Netflix Built It’s Hugely Successful Culture appeared first on Mark C. Crowley.

With people living longer than ever – and therefore wanting to work longer – a big question many workplace leaders are asking themselves today is whether workers in their 40’s, 50’s and 60’s can remain relevant in our rapidly changing digital world. If you have even a tinge of gray in your hair, you’ll be pleased to know that many companies are coming to realize that qualities that only come with age – i.e. humility, emotional intelligence and wisdom – are in short supply in many of their units. And so, they’ve begun re-embracing their older and more experienced employees who often possess them. For the first time in history, we have five different generations working together in organizations – and few of us have experience in melding people of wildly different ages & mindsets into cohesive teams. And with unemployment at record lows across the globe, organizational success has suddenly become dependent upon our making multigenerational teams come together as one. Few people can help us navigate this new world order than Chip Conley. After selling the boutique hotel management company he founded and managed for 24 years (Joie-de-Vivre Hospitality), he was faced with securing a new career. And after receiving a call from Airbnb’s 31-year-old co-founder and CEO, Brian Cheskey, he accepted a role as Airbnb’s “Head Of Global Hospitality and moved to Silicon Valley. But on day one, he realized he was knee-deep in foreign waters. His boss was young enough to be his son – and his co-workers were all even younger – 20-something tech geniuses with whom he had almost nothing in common. As Chip details in his new book, “Wisdom At Work – The Making Of A Modern Elder” (and in our discussion), it took some time to find his sea legs before he realized the profound influence he could have by mentoring Airbnb’s young team. And over the next four years, he also discovered the most successful ways of bringing young and old workers together for the benefit of the organization – and for the well-being of everyone involved. In just a few years, half of all workers will have someone younger than them as their boss. And whichever side of the equation you’ll be on come then, you’ll need solid guidance on how to make that relationship succeed. Providing you with this insight is the focus of this wonderful chat with Chip Conley. The post Chip Conley: How To Create A Thriving Multi-Generational Workplace appeared first on Mark C. Crowley.

Not since 1974 when Studs Terkel published his groundbreaking book, “Working,”has anyone performed a deep dive into the modern-day work experience. But with automation and digitalization poised to radically change our workplaces in the very near future – along with the jobs we all do – Boston University journalism professor, Ellen Rupell Shell spent the past eight years researching all the ways our careers are likely to be disrupted, and how we can emerge on the other side of it with work that inspires and sustains us. “Work is essential for human beings to flourish,” writes Shell in her New York Times bestselling book, “The Job: Work And It’s Future In A Time Of Radical Change.” “It gives our lives meaning, purpose, identity and status.” But at a time when McKinsey predicts that one-third of all blue and white-collar jobs will be gone in the next 20 years, public policy isn’t yet oriented toward ensuring that everyone who wants to continue working will remain able to support themselves and their families. So what course corrections do we need to make? How can we sustain our own career viability in light of unparalleled technological change? What skills will emerge as most essential in the new economy? Can there really be a happy ending? These are critically important questions all of us should now be asking – and tied to Shell’s remarkably broad research, she’s able to provide many unexpected yet insightful answers. Not just intended for leaders and managers, this is a podcast that holds great benefits for us all. The post Ellen Ruppel Shell: How To Sustain Your Career Once Technology Changes Or Eliminates Your Job appeared first on Mark C. Crowley.

HOW DOES A LEADER TAKE THEIR TEAM FROM GOOD TO GREAT? Georgetown University business school professor, Christine Porath says we won’t make that leap until we address the incivility that’s taken over our workplaces. In preparing for her recent TED Talk that’s had nearly one million views so far, Dr. Porath asked 20,000 employees around the world what they most wanted from their leaders today. The number one answer was “respect.” A lack of civility has come to characterize most of our experiences at work – so much so that we now just assume it comes with the territory. But the reason we must now confront incivility is because it’s proven to do great harm to people not to mention organization’s bottom lines. Dr. Porath’s research shows that incivility is highly contagious. It makes people less motivated, instantaneously less engaged – and deeply resentful. And 12% of workers who feel slighted or disrespected in their jobs end up quitting. In this inspiring conversation, we explore the reasons why curt, rude and unkind behavior has become so prevalent in business today, and discuss the surprisingly simple ways managers and companies can restore a more humane culture. If there’s one key take-away from this podcast episode, it’s that civility lifts people. Leaders can therefore achieve so much more by ensuring their teams’ culture delivers what employees around the world today are clamoring for: a highly respectful place in which to work. Please listen in! The post Dr. Christine Porath: Workplace Incivility Requires A Leadership Fix appeared first on Mark C. Crowley.

Is it possible that you have a pattern of behavior or a personality trait that greatly limits your effectiveness as a person and as a leader? Could you have an unconscious way of acting – particularly under stress – that unwittingly thwarts your dreams of moving up the ladder? If you consider yourself part of the human species, it’s almost guaranteed that you’re doing at least one thing that undermines your true greatness as a manager. So the goal for this podcast is to help you discover what your personal derailleurs might be, and to learn how to lessen their negative impacts. Few people are better qualified to provide insight and advice on this topic than our guest, Dr. David Dotlich. A certified psychologist in career development and life planning, he’s been named one of the Top 50 Coaches In America – he’s also co-written 12 best-selling leadership books including the one we discuss in great detail on the podcast: “Why CEOs Fail” The 11 Behaviors That Can Derail Your Climb To The Top – And How To Manage Them.” Today, David is President of Pivot Leadership – a consulting firm he started and later sold to Korn Ferry. He advises CEOs and Corporate Boards, and his list of clients includes Walmart, Nike, Johnson & Johnson, Microsoft, Aetna and Best Buy. Amongst his many prestigious former roles, David was a founding partner of CDR International which was later acquired by Marsh McLennan. He was an Executive Vice President at Groupe Bull S.A, a Paris-based computer manufacturer with 45,000 employees, an EVP at Honeywell, the President of Mercer Delta Consulting – and a Professor at the University of Minnesota business school where he earned his masters and PhD. As David says, “most leaders succeed or fail based on how well they work with others and how well they understand themselves.” This podcast is devoted to helping you excel at both.   The post Dr. David Dotlich: Why Leaders Fail: The Top Behaviors That Can Derail Your Career appeared first on Mark C. Crowley.

More than anything else today, what people want from their employers & leaders is to be given a safe & respectful place in which to work. That’s the conclusion of new Pew research which shows 89% of American workers rank these needs highest. Yes, employees also expect their leaders to be honest, ethical – and to reward them fairly with pay & benefits. But their ultimate happiness, engagement & sense of well-being all prove to be directly connected to how they are made to feel. And what most people want to feel in their jobs is secure, valued, appreciated — & supported as a human being. In light of this research, workplace leaders are wise to ask one big question. “What are the specific things I need to do to ensure these employee needs & expectations get met?” In her new book, “Bring Your Human to Work: Ten Sure-Fire Ways to Design a Workplace That is Good for People, Great for Business, and Just Might Change the World,” author Erica Keswin provides many compelling answers. She draws on research that shows it often boils down to simple but thoughtful gestures that make the biggest impact. Making meetings more productive & inspiring. Giving people greater clarity around when their workday ends. Being nudged to take all of their vacation. Ensuring stated organizational values are lived in the halls, not just hung on the walls. If you’re looking for state-of-the-art ideas on how to support your employees (human beings!) & and to keep them healthy, motivated & productive, listen in & plan to take notes! The post Erica Keswin: How To Design A Workplace That Is Good for People & Great for Business appeared first on Mark C. Crowley.

While we might consider the time in which we’re all living a more enlightened age, the word “heart” still carries a lot of negative associations when it comes to workplace leadership. Tied to traditional leadership wisdom, we cling to the belief that caring and supportive management is an inherently weak idea that cannot drive productivity – and so we go on leading in old & less effective ways. But recent scientific discoveries prove our understanding of how to most effectively motivate human performance is patently wrong. More to the point, new science shows the heart plays a profound role in influencing human behavior – and that workplace managers who care about, nurture and proactively support their people can expect to be rewarded with unimaginable productivity and success in return. For nearly three decades, the Institute of HeartMath has been researching the human heart – an organ many people believe is just a pump that circulates blood throughout our bodies. Led by its chief researcher and co-founder, Dr. Rollin McCraty, HeartMath has discovered that the heart is actually a source of great intelligence that plays an enormous role in shaping our choices and decisions. And the feelings and emotions that people experience every day at work actually have a major impact on determining their level of engagement, commitment and initiative. While many managers remain convinced that managing with some degree of fear and stress is a potent way of achieving goals, HeartMath’s research proves they couldn’t be more wrong. As Rollin McCraty thoroughly explains in this podcast, when people repeatedly experience negative emotions, their cognitive effectiveness instinctively shuts down. They make poor choices and have less energy to commit to the job at hand. Yes, it’s a huge paradigm change to think that organizations that put the needs of employees first – before those of customers, managers and shareholders – could be a winning formula. But the science that proves it has become irrefutable. In addition to his work at HeartMath, Rollin McCraty is a professor at Florida Atlantic University. His team has done joint research projects with Stanford University, Claremont Graduate University and several other universities around the world. His work has been featured on CNN, ABC World News Tonight, NBC’s Today Show and the Discovery Channel. And his studies have appeared in numerous scientific journals in addition to well-known publications including Prevention, Natural Health, Men’s Fitness and American Health. After you finish listening to this podcast, you’ll be convinced that the idea of leading from the heart isn’t just the wisest thing a leader can do – it represents the future of workplace leadership. The post Rollin McCraty: Why The Heart Is The Driver Of Optimal Human Performance appeared first on Mark C. Crowley.

Hear the word “rebel” & we immediately think of troublemakers & outcasts – people who end up with bad reputations for being non-conformists. But after a decade of studying rebels (especially rebel leaders), Harvard Business School Professor, Francesca Gino says we’ve got it all wrong. In her New York Times bestselling book, “Rebel Talent: Why It Pays To Break The Rules At Work & In Life,” Gino says that “rebels prove to be the masters of innovation & reinvention. They’re the ones who change the world for the better with their unconventional outlooks. Instead of clinging to what is safe & familiar – & falling back on routines & tradition – rebels excel by challenging the status-quo.” Sharing a remarkable list of real-world examples, Francesca Gino explains why breaking rules enriches every aspect of our lives. And she saves her best insights for leadership – and why it’s irrefutable that the most successful, innovative & admired managers around the world are intentionally “Rebel Leaders.” The post Francesca Gino: Why It Pays To Break The Rules In Life, Work & Leadership appeared first on Mark C. Crowley.

In 2012, Gallup made the startling announcement that employee engagement across the globe was in crisis. We learned that only 30% of American workers were fully committed in their jobs – and the numbers were even worse in most other countries. So here we are six years later and we’re left to wonder: “Has engagement gotten any better?” “Did most organizations fully commit to creating more supportive workplaces?” And, “Has the employee engagement metric held up as a true barometer of organizational success?” Few people on the planet are better prepared to answer these important questions than Gallup’s Dr. Jim Harter. Nearly 30 years ago, Harter created Gallup’s on-going employee engagement & wellbeing studies. And on this podcast, he taps into compelling data and insight to bring us all current. As you’ll hear, millions more employees around the world are now engaged at work. And, provocatively, the country of Singapore took their low engagement so seriously they’ve more than doubled the nation’s engagement scores. And just this week, The Drucker Institute published its annual list of the 250 World’s Best Managed Companies by stating that the organizations making the biggest leaps on the rankings also had the biggest gains in employee engagement. As you might imagine, engagement hasn’t gotten better everywhere. So listen to this rare opportunity to hear Jim Harter explain what the most enlightened companies are doing to inspire their workforces – and the advantages they now hold over competitors who’ve yet to take engagement seriously. The post Jim Harter: Gallup’s Chief Scientist Explains Why Employee Engagement & Caring Cultures Differentiate Thriving Organizations appeared first on Mark C. Crowley.

If you have the chops to get accepted into an elite MBA Program at a school like Harvard, Wharton or Yale, you pretty much know that the next two years of your life will be devoted to mastering left-brain coursework – classes in analytics, statistics, accounting, economics, finance and the like. But a few years ago, top business schools like these started to reassess. Alarmed by rock-bottom employee engagement across the world – not to mention other distressing trends on employee stress, health and well-being – they began to ask themselves whether they were part of the problem. Faculties and administrators reflected upon how successful they’d historically been in preparing students to manage other human beings in the workplace. And they collectively concluded that their traditional methods of preparing future leaders was entirely deficient and required a massive reinvention. Fast-forward to today: At Yale’s graduate school of business, students take a mandatory class on “purpose.” At Harvard, MBA students are being taught groundbreaking science on how to achieve personal happiness. They’re also reading about Chinese Philosophers and how spiritual wisdom can guide their management decisions. And these same kinds of curriculum changes are happening at Wharton, The University of Michigan – and business schools across the world. In what proves to be a remarkable & compelling discussion of why all of this is happening in MBA Programs, podcast guest, Stanford University Graduate School of Business Professor, Leah Weiss, shares why a class she teaches called, “Leading With Mindfulness And Compassion” has become the top elective course in her school’s MBA program. Weiss is the author of the brand new bestseller, “How We Work: Live Your Purpose, Reclaim Your Sanity And Embrace The Daily Grind,” and if you want a glimpse into the future of workplace leadership – not to mention fabulous insight into practices and skills that can help you to better “Know Thyself,” listening in will prove invaluable. The post Leah Weiss: Why A Class On Mindfulness & Self-Mastery Is Now Stanford Business School’s Top Elective appeared first on Mark C. Crowley.

Everyone has self-limiting behaviors, for the simple reason that we’re all human. But frequently, what holds women back from obtaining the next raise, promotion or job tends to be different from men. In their new bestseller, “How Women Rise,” legendary leadership coach, Marshall Goldsmith, and Sally Helgesen – the person Forbes Magazine named the world’s top women’s leadership expert – partnered up to explain which bad habits all too frequently hold back women. But in this podcast that was intentionally designed to benefit all managers, Sally explains why men and women often approach leadership differently, and how their unique set of bad habits can derail their desired growth. Leveraging a thirty-year career as a researcher and author – while tapping into all she’s learned from Marshall’s four-decades of coaching male executives – Sally Helgesen shares much surprising and invaluable insight on how to both identify and overcome the unintentional behaviors that unnecessarily impede our progress.   The post Sally Helgesen: The Bad Habits That Limit Our Career Growth & Success appeared first on Mark C. Crowley.

We’ve all worked for managers who sapped our talent, energy and commitment while always needing to be the smartest person in the room. And if we’ve been lucky, we’ve also worked for leaders who brought out the better angels of our nature – people who used their own intelligence to amplify the talents and capabilities of every person around them. So what’s the mindset difference between leaders who unwittingly diminish other people and those who inspire employees to stretch to deliver results that surpass expectations? That’s the focus of my discussion with Liz Wiseman – consultant to many of the world’s great technology firms, and author of the Wall Street Journal bestseller, “Multipliers.” One thing we can all agree upon is that the world desperately needs leaders who can elevate others – genius makers who optimize talent and give people space to do their best work. And in this truly dynamic chat with Liz, we break down all that it means to be a “Multiplier” kind of leader – and the vital few behaviors which separate them from managers who not only diminish other people but also their own success.   The post Liz Wiseman: Leaders Who Are Multipliers Make Everyone Smarter appeared first on Mark C. Crowley.

Podcast 008: Kim Powell Many of us have it in our mind that very few people (including ourselves) have what it takes to become a CEO. We conjure up images of oversized personalities like Steve Jobs & Jack Welch and assume that’s what a successful CEO looks like. But in her new best-selling book (and a book Malcolm Gladwell, Adam Grant, Susan Cain, and Daniel Pink selected as one of their top nonfiction books of 2018),“The CEO Next Door,” Kim Powell shows us that CEOs like these are really outliers. And not only don’t you need to be a charismatic, extroverted visionary like Jobs and Welch to become a successful CEO, you don’t need an Ivy League degree or an impeccable resumé either. Leveraging state-of-the-art analytical tools, Powell and her co-author, Elena Botelho, processed the performance of 2,600 executive leaders before concluding that what truly characterizes high-performing chief executives isn’t at all related to their pedigrees or intellect. Instead, what they all had in common was a mastery of four specific leadership behaviors. Whether it’s your dream to one day run your own company – or if you just want to greatly elevate your own leadership effectiveness, this podcast introduces all four of these important behaviors, and helps you understand how to immediately apply them in your own career. The post Kim Powell: Master Just Four Leadership Behaviors And You Could Be CEO Material appeared first on Mark C. Crowley.

Podcast 007: Dr. James Doty Dr. James Doty: Stanford Medical School Professor Says The Heart Matters More Than The Brain In Leadership As a world-class brain surgeon and Stanford University Medical School professor, Dr. James Doty is nevertheless certain that “the best way of influencing human beings to excel in their jobs is to intentionally and positively affect their hearts.” These surprising words are found in his New York Times best selling book, “Into The Magic Shop: A Neurosurgeon’s Quest To Discover The Mysteries Of The Brain And The Secrets Of The Heart – and amplify recent medical discoveries that prove the heart plays a far greater role in influencing human behavior than most of us have ever known. Dr. Doty comes on the podcast to explain how the mind and heart are connected – and what this means for the future of workplace leadership. But as the Director of Stanford’s Center For Altruism And Compassion Research – and a physician to employees in the Silicon Valley, he brings surprising insight into what employees truly want and need in exchange for work. And even though companies like Google and Facebook are known as great places to work, Doty’s take isn’t quite as glowing. “What people really need and want,” Doty says, “is love.” How he landed on this conclusion is the underlying theme of his discussion with Mark. The post Dr. James Doty: Stanford Medical School Professor Says The Heart Matters More Than The Brain In Leadership appeared first on Mark C. Crowley.

Podcast 006: Geoff Colvin With technology poised to eliminate millions of jobs in every imaginable industry, we’re left to wonder what kind of work will remain and what skills will be most highly valued in the future workplace. To answer these serious questions, few people in the world today have a better grasp of what this future looks like than Fortune Magazine editor, Geoff Colvin. With uncommon access to the thinking of global CEOs, academics and economists, Colvin performed his own research before writing his highly acclaimed book, “Humans Are Underrated: What High Achievers Know The Brilliant Machines Never Will.” And if his title doesn’t make it entirely clear, Colvin is fully certain that human skills will hold the highest value in a world that’s rapidly being automated by artificial intelligence and robots. “Ask employers which skills they’ll need in the next 5-10 years, Colvin writes, “and answers that come back do not include business acumen, analysis or P&L management — left brain thinking skills. Instead, the top priorities will be relationship building, teaming, co-creativity, brainstorming, cultural sensitivity and the ability to manage diverse employees — right brain activities.” Whether you’re wondering what could happen to your own career, or how to help prepare your business or team for the technological tsunami heading our way, Geoff shares plenty of invaluable insights that will leave you well informed and fully prepared to start taking action. It also happens to be one truly delightful conversation you’re guaranteed to enjoy. The post Geoff Colvin: Fortune Magazine’s Editor Believes “Humans Are Underrated” appeared first on Mark C. Crowley.

Podcast 005: Daniel Coyle New York Times bestselling author, Daniel Coyle spent the past four years researching the cultures at eight of the world’s most successful organizations — including the U.S. Navy’s Seal Team Six, global design firm IDEO and the five-time NBA champions San Antonio Spurs. And he came away with the remarkable discovery that leaders of all these exceptional teams share three uncommon leadership practices. They build safety, share vulnerability and establish purpose. Yes, these are the three qualities that fully distinguish the organizations that invented the first Apple mouse, caught Osama Bin Laden, and have won a higher percentage of their games over that past 20 years than any team in professional sports. Listen in to this highly animated discussion as Daniel digs into his new book, The Culture Code (a book Malcolm Gladwell, Adam Grant, Susan Cain, and Daniel Pink selected as one their top nonfiction in 2018), and provides a clear understanding of what truly separates outlier workplaces from all the mediocre ones. It’s untraditional and truly inspired thinking that produces world-class performance. The post Daniel Coyle: Cracking “The Culture Code” appeared first on Mark C. Crowley.

Podcast 004: Garry Ridge For the past 20 years, Garry Ridge has been CEO of the WD-40 Company, and he’s built one of the most inspiring workplace cultures on the planet. INC. Magazine named him one of the Top-10 CEOs across the globe (leadership legends Jim Kouzes and Ken Blanchard both say he’s #1 in the US), & it’s largely because his company consistently achieves its growth & profit targets while concurrently sustaining an extraordinary employee experience. Garry Ridge is the full embodiment of the Lead From The Heart philosophy. He intentionally supports his tribe of workers by focusing on their well-being, satisfaction & growth — while also holding people accountable for their performance. The result is a team of people who love coming to work, have a deep sense of meaning in what they do, and have helped WD-40’s stock price soar. Already one of our most popular podcast episodes, listen in as Garry and Mark discuss the leadership practices that make the WD-40 Company such a well-oiled machine. The post Garry Ridge: The CEO Most Of Us Wish We Had appeared first on Mark C. Crowley.

Podcast 003: Tom Peters Legendary leadership author, Tom Peters could easily be reclining on a New England beach these days. But he’s by no means the retiring type. Instead, he just published his 17th book, “The Excellence Dividend,” and continues to challenge workplace leaders to reinvent how they lead and manage. Three decades ago, Peters wrote the classic book, “In Search Of Excellence,” which many people have called the greatest business book of all time. His cornerstone message at the time: “Put People First.” All these years later, Peters (as you’ll soon hear) remains as passionate as ever about spreading this tradition-breaking idea. And he says he’s not quitting until workplace leaders stop talking about leadership change and take real action. Listen in to what Mark has called the single greatest discussion he’s ever had in his life. Peters brings to this podcast great energy, great articulation and a leadership vision every manager on the planet would be wise to embrace. A must! The post Tom Peters: A Leadership Legend In Rare Form appeared first on Mark C. Crowley.

Podcast 001: Jim Kouses Thirty-years ago, Jim Kouzes and his collaborator Barry Posner wrote “The Leadership Challenge” – a book that has sold 2.5 million copies (so far) and is taught in universities and management classes around the world. As the author of five other best-selling leadership books, a consultant and a Fellow of Leadership at Santa Clara University’s Leavey Business School, Kouzes was one of the earliest people to urge managers to purposefully engage employees’ hearts. There is simply no accident that Jim Kouzes is the first ever guest on the Lead From The Heart podcast. It simply couldn’t have been anyone but him to launch the effort. And early listeners have described this podcast as Kouzes’ “last lecture” in the sense that he does a truly magnificent job of distilling all of his proven management wisdom into a one hour discussion (where he holds court). If you’re looking to be inspired while learning the key attributes of the most effective 21st Century managers, listening in will be time very well spent. The post Jim Kouzes: A Leadership Giant! appeared first on Mark C. Crowley.

Podcast 002: Adam Bryant Imagine having the opportunity to interview hundreds of the world’s top CEOs and hear them describe their leadership philosophy, not to mention the successes and failures that shaped them as managers. For eight years, Adam Bryant did that exact thing as the creator and writer of the New York Times’ highly popular “Corner Office” column. As a journalist, Bryant developed and refined an exceptional ability to ask deep questions, pick up on nuance, probe for understanding — and come away with an unbiased conclusion of what makes C-Suite leaders tick. And what he discovered about all of the 525 CEOs he interviewed is that none of them were completely alike — nor do they lead and manage exactly the same way. Nevertheless, they did all share some very important commonalities (almost all were highly curious people, for example). And what makes this podcast so interesting comes from learning what these top executives collectively have to teach us that can help make us all better managers. The post Adam Bryant: Leadership Insights From Over 500 Corner Offices appeared first on Mark C. Crowley.

Podcast 000: Mark C. Crowley The expression “Lead From The Heart” elicits different meanings to different people, so Mark uses his first podcast to introduce himself, his vision for the show and some clarity around his leadership philosophy. Interviewed by his friend and “Blip” author, Ken Boynton, Mark talks about his best-selling book, the kinds of guests he plans to bring on the podcast and why he believes listening in will be highly worthwhile for anyone seeking to excel as a 21st Century leader.   The post Mark C. Crowley: Glad You’ve Joined Us! appeared first on Mark C. Crowley.